


Are you Earl Gray? Because you are a hot-TEA!

by Swietek93



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Barista!Nat, Coffee Puns, F/M, Fluff, Pick-Up Lines, Skinny!Steve, coffee shop AU, pick-up line puns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-31 02:43:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13965639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swietek93/pseuds/Swietek93
Summary: In which Natasha writes pick-up lines on Steve’s coffee cup





	Are you Earl Gray? Because you are a hot-TEA!

Steve entered the coffee shop a couple of blocks away from his campus. He didn’t usually buy coffee out, he preferred making his own, but he was feeling a bit lazy and didn’t mind splurging a little. He hadn’t been to this cafe yet, though he’d heard some of his friends raving about it.  
  
While he waited in the short line, he pulled out his phone to check his messages. There were a few texts from Bucky about his adventures with a hot blonde last night, typical and one from his mom about getting together for dinner. He quickly replied to his mom and ignored Buck’s messages to deal them with later.

Soon enough it was Steve’s turn. He ordered a small coffee, cream and two sugars, then stepped aside to let the next customer order. Behind the counter was a red-haired girl. She was making the coffees while her coworker took the orders. Steve didn’t take much notice of her except for when their eyes met briefly before she looked back down at what she was doing.

“Small coffee for Steve!” The redhead called out in a husky voice. She placed his order on the counter and turned back to the other cups waiting to be filled, ignoring his presence when he walked up to retrieve his own cup.

“Thanks,” he mumbled before walking away.

He exited Common Grounds Cafe, strolling down the sidewalk towards the park. He had his sketch pad in his bag at his side and planned to do some people watching. He wanted to practice drawing faces and bodies and there was no better reference than real life.

When he got to the park, he found a large tree to lean against and propped his sketch pad against his knees. When he lifted his coffee cup again he noticed something written on the side.

_Hello there, you do you brew?_

“Huh,” he said aloud to himself, then his face split into an amused grin. He thought about the red-haired girl behind the counter and wondered if she was the one who’s written on his cup.

He started sketching out the details of her ponytail, what he could remember of the way the loose strands framed her face. He moved on to her lips, her nose, her chin. He hadn’t gotten a very long look at her, but he had an eidetic memory. He could remember enough detail to be able to recognize who the drawing was of, but not quite all of the smaller details.

A few hours later, long after his coffee had turned cold, Steve gathered his things to leave. For a moment he felt bad for throwing away the cup with th cute greeting, but ultimately threw it in the trash on his way out of the park.

Later that week, he decided to go back to Common Grounds Cafe. He really enjoyed the coffee and he wanted a place to hang out for a while. They day was chilly and rainy, not a great day for the park. He had some reading he figured he could catch up on for school, anyway.

He ordered his coffee from the guy behind the counter, casually glancing around to find the redhead. He didn’t see her right away, but as he moved over to the wait-counter, she popped up in front of him. She must’ve bent down to get something.

She smiled briefly at him before moving to make his order. Steve walked over to a table in the corner near the window and set down his bag and coat.

“Coffee for Steve!” He heard his name, though it wasn’t the red-haired girl who called him. Another girl, this one a brunette, stood where she had been moments earlier. He ignored the feeling of disappointment that caused him.

He went over and grabbed his cup, moving back to his table. As he sat down and placed his coffee on the table, he notice again that there was something written on his cup.

_That’s a nice mug you got on ya._

He couldn’t help but chuckle at that. He wished he could go over and say something, but he wasn’t entirely sure it was the redhead writing these messages. It could’ve been the guy taking his order for all he knew.

He put it out of his mind for the time being. He decided he’d just have to keep coming in if he wanted to find out who was writing the cute pick-up lines.

With that decided, he settled on coming to the cafe twice a week. The redhead wasn’t always working when he came in, but the messages were notably absent when she was.

_Are you from Starbucks? Cause I like you a latte._

This was the latest pick-up line scrawled across his cup. This time the redhead was behind the counter watching him. Her lips quirked up in a smile and she winked at him.

He smiled back at her and went to move closer, but her coworker called her attention away.

“Natasha! I need your help with the order forms!” Steve heard someone called from out of view of the front.

“Coming!” The redhead- Natasha- passed the cup she was about to fill to the other barista and walked to the back.

Steve cursed his luck then left the cafe, knowing he’d be back and could talk to her then.

The next time he came into the coffee shop, he had Bucky with him.

“So are you going to show me the girl who’s been feeding you pick-up line?” Bucky asked a little too loudly for Steve’s liking.

“Shut up, Buck,” he smacked his friend’s chest. “I haven’t even met her yet.”

Bucky just rolled his eyes and stayed silent. The two friends moved up to the counter. Natasha was the only person behind the counter today, so she took their orders.

“What can I get you boys today?” She asked in her husky voice. Steve imagined what it would sound like for her to say her pick-up lines around with that voice. The thought sent a chill down his spine.

“I’ll have a large black coffee. No sugar, you’re sweet enough,” Bucky winked and Steve had to resist the urge to smack himself in the face.

Natasha didn’t seem at all affected by Bucky’s come-on, she just turned her attention to Steve. Now though, she had a beautiful smile aimed at him. He felt like he might need his inhaler with how breathtaking she was.

“Small coffee, cream, two sugars?” Natasha asked him, reaching for a cup to write down his order.

“Yeah,” he smiled, flattered she remembered his order.

“Coming right up,” she left the cups to the side while she rang them out. They moved away from the counter while she worked, towards a table on the other side of the cafe.

“Man! She’s into you!” Thankfully Bucky kept his voice down so Natasha couldn’t hear his comment. Hopefully.

“Maybe?” Steve rubbed the back of his neck. He knew she was the one writing the pick-up lines but it didn’t make sense to him. She was beautiful, he was, well, not exactly the football captain. He was short and thin, a stiff would could knock him over. He had asthma and had to wear reading glasses. In his experience, women didn’t go for guys like him.

“Come on, don’t sell yourself short,” Bucky consoled. “Any girl would be lucky to have you.”

“Thanks, Buck.” Steve brushed off his consideration. “But none of the girls you’ve ever set me up with seem to agreed.” He said self-deprecatingly.

“Oh, stop,” Bucky rolled his eyes. “Clearly this one likes you. At least enough to feed you pick-up lines. I doubt she does that for all of her customers.”

“Order for Steve!” Natasha’s voice rang out across the shop. Steve perked up at the mention of his name and left Bucky to grab their coffees.

Natasha smiled and winked at him before he walked away.

“Why didn’t you talk to her?” Bucky demanded when Steve got back to the table.

Steve ignored him to read what she’d written on his cup.

_I’m soy into you. You mocha me crazy._

“Man, you have to go talk to her!” Bucky commanded.

“I guess you’re right.” Steve shrugged, not fully convinced this was really happening to him. He walked back over to the counter. Natasha was still there, wiping down some of the machines.

“Hey,” he started, not really knowing what he wanted to say. He quickly glanced at Bucky who just gave him a grin and two thumbs-up.

“Hey!” Natasha smiled brightly at him. “You finally decided to talk to me” She teased.  
  
“Yeah, uh,” he rubbed at the back of his neck, “I like the little pick-up lines. It always makes my day.” He tried to make his smile look more confident than he felt.

Natasha laughed softly. “I’m glad. I don’t do that for just anyone.” She tilted her head to the side, a playful smile on her lips.

“I’m flattered,” Heat rose on his cheeks.

“So,” she grinned mischievously, “I can feel something brewing between the two of us.”

Steve couldn’t help it, he laughed out loud. She was still grinning, satisfied. He sobered up and held his hand out for a shake. “Steve Rogers.”

“Natasha Romanoff,” she shook his hand. “So Steve Rogers, would you like to go on a date?”

“Really?” He blurted out, then cursed himself. “I mean, I’d love to!” He quickly recovered.

“I wouldn’t ask you out if I didn’t mean it,” she frowned briefly. He really wanted her to go back to smiling. He loved her smile.

“No, I know. I’m just not really used to...being asked out, I guessed.” He rubbed the back of his neck again.

He glanced back at his table where Bucky was supposed to be, hoping to signal his friend to help, but he wasn’t there. Instead, Bucky was a few tables over talking to a brunette with shoulder length hair, black dress and a red leather jacket. Only Bucky, Steve thought.

When he turned back Natasha was still frowning. “That’s hard to believe.” She said as if it really was. As if it was crazy for Steve to have never been asked out, or dumped in the middle of a first date.

“It’s alright,” he smiled shyly. “Most girls go for the better looking guys, like my friend over there.” Steve gestured behind him to Bucky. So maybe Bucky wasn’t conventionally attractive, but he had great hair, a strong physique and covered up his insecurities with a bad boy persona.

“Well,” Natasha leaned forward over the counter, “I’m not most girls.” She said it simply. Steve believed her one-hundred percent. “So, a date?” Nastasha reminded him.

“I’d love to,” he said. He grabbed a napkin and wrote his number down for her, sliding it back across the counter. “What’s your number so I can call you later?” He didn’t want t leave it all up to her.

“Check your cup,” she winked. His eyes widened and without thinking he dashed back over to his table. He could hear her laughter as he grabbed for his cup, turning it in his hand. There, on the bottom edge of the side of the cup, she had written her phone number and a little smiley face.

When Steve turned around, Natasha had disappeared. Bucky had come over when he saw Steve rush back to the table.

“Everything okay? It seemed like things were going well?” Bucky’s expression showed his concern that maybe he was wrong about Natasha.

“She asked me on a date.” The whole conversation finally caught up to him and he grinned in disbelief. “A date!”

Bucky face went from concerned to proud. “Thatta boy, Stevie!” He clapped his hand down on his friend’s shoulder.

That night, Steve typed Natasha’s number into his phone. He planned to call, at first, but then decided a text would be better. He didn’t want to interrupt her evening, whatever she was doing.

_Friday night, pizza and a movie at my place? -S_

Steve quickly hit send so he couldn’t talk himself out of it.

It didn’t take longer for a response. She texted back a few minutes later.

_Sounds great! What time? :) -N_

_How’s 7? -S_

_Perfect :D -N_

Steve breathed a sigh a relief. There. He’d done it! He had actual plans for an actual date for the first time in years. A date he’d managed to get on his own without Bucky’s help.

Natasha showed up Friday night in a cute sweater dress and legging. Steve thought she looked beautiful. Her red hair was down around her shoulders, falling in soft waves. She looked perfect.

“Come on in,” Steve waved her into his apartment. “The pizza is on its way and I’ve got Netflix ready to go in the living room.” He led her over to the couch in said living room.

Natasha settled on one side of the couch, not all the way to the side, but she definitely left him enough space so he wouldn’t be on top of her. He sat down and grabbed the remote.

“What do you want to watch?” He asked.

“I’d be fine with whatever. Just no horror movies,” she chuckled. That led to him picturing her curled into him hiding her face in his chest at the scariest parts. He had to mentally shake himself.

They put on a romantic comedy and waited for the pizza. After it arrived they sat on the floor so they could use the coffee table to eat. When they were finished, Steve sat back up on the couch. Natasha surprised him by curling herself against his side and leaning her head on his shoulder.

His breath hitched and he coughed to try to cover it up.

Near the end of the movie, Natasha turned to him and said with a completely straight face, “The pizza burned my tongue. I need mouth-to-mouth.”

Steve stared at her before bursting out with laughter. Natasha grinned, chuckling a little herself. When he calmed a bit, she grabbed him by the front of his shirt and dragged him forward, sealing her lips to his.

Damn, he was so glad he’d finally tried that coffee shop.

 

 


End file.
